Page 75 of Meteor Storm

“What about your pleasure?”

“Mine does not matter. I will deprive myself forever if it means watching your cheeks blossom with color like this,” he said, stroking his thumb across the side of my face.

“Thilar,” I whispered, my belly fluttering with need again despite only just finding an orgasm. “What’s happening?”

“It doesn’t matter right now. You came here for sleep. Let me help you get it.”

“How can I sleep after that?”

“It will be easy. I can see exhaustion in your eyes. Roll over.”

He gently nudged me, turning me on my other side so my back was pressed to his hot chest. Then his legs bent around me, fitting him against me like a puzzle piece, his arm coiled around my waist and pulling me deeper into his embrace. Instantly, a wave of calming, wonderful heat blanketed my entire body. I sighed with relief and sank into him like molasses.

“Oh my God.” I practically moaned the words.

A low, quiet chuckle rose from his throat. Using his bicep as a pillow, I closed my eyes and breathed deep, careless that I needed to bathe after the mess he’d created between my legs. That was the moment I remembered just how tired my body was and I could not move if I wanted to.

“Sleep, Penny,” he whispered into my ear, his thumb rubbing softly along my forearm.

Before I could come up with any other excuses as to why I was not complying, my body surrendered. Not only because I needed rest, but because with Thilar, I felt safe. Safer than I’d ever felt. Sleep came easy.

22: Thilar

Penny slept so deeply beside me. Any lesser being could have easily mistaken her for dead, but I had been listening to the steady, slow rhythm of her slumbering heartbeat for hours. When she finally stirred, it took everything in me not to run my hands down the entire length of her body, roll her over, and pleasure her again to completion.

But depriving myself of the thing I wanted most—that base desire—would need to become a constant if I was ultimately destined to be separated from her. I could not see a way the monrian council would allow us to be together. I still belonged to the monrian collective and they would dictate my future. Straying could mean a number of things. Punishment. Banishment. Perhaps worse.

Penny gradually came to and nuzzled herself against my chest with a weak little moan. She looked divine when she slept. Serene. After seeing so many different sides of terror and dread on her face on Mekah, serenity and smiles was a welcome sight. It brightened everything about her and I never wanted to see that light dim again.

She opened her eyes, looking up at me through her lashes. When she realized where she was, she gave me a lazy smile and wrapped her arm around me, nudging closer.

“That,” she sighed. “Was the best sleep I’ve had in years.”

I swept a few strands of hair from her face, breathing her in. “I welcome you into my bed anytime you need.”

She craned her head to look at me again. “What if I need you every night?”

“Then I will leave my door unlocked.”

Something washed across her face. Not happiness and not quite surprise. Something more steady and subtle. Gratitude, perhaps. Contentment.

“Thilar,” she whispered. “Can I tell you something?”

“Of course.”

“I… I’m glad I met you. And not only because you are probably the only reason I didn’t die on that rock. Because…” She paused to take a breath. “Never mind. I’m just thankful you found me, is all. You’ve been protecting me since we met. I just want you to know how much that means to me.”

“I will protect you until we part ways, Penny. I promise.”

That gracious tranquility soured on her face and she lowered her eyes as if I’d offended her and she was trying to hide it. She nodded and then pulled a very familiar mask over her expression as she sat up.

“When will that be?”

“We should be in Tallian space now. The Edda will not be far. The council resides there. If Yuros is as thorough as he seems, he will have already begun sending his personal reports and observations to them.”

“And this contract of theirs?”

“Yuros will meet with the prince in the comms room. They will get paid. And then Yuros and his men move on to the next contract. I’m sure they have many lined up.”